Absolute Choice 1

by Pear Lands In The Autumn Spring

  Shi Xiaobai revealed an expression that said "are you a retard" and said, "By joining Xiaobai's Hero Squad, you are naturally This King's person!"

  Holy shit, so that was the meaning!

  Riko was at a loss whether to laugh or to cry. The ice in her heart melted. In her heart, she came to the realization that the youth in front of her was indeed—an idiot!

  Shi Xiaobai sensed that Riko was intending to go back on her words, so he hurriedly said, "Girl, don't you go back on your words!"

  Riko rolled her eyes at him and after a little hesitation, she said softly, "I agree to it."

  Shi Xiaobai was stunned, before he roared with laughter, "Girl, from this moment, you are This King's person! You are not to use violence against This King!"

  Upon hearing this, Riko, who had just raised her fist, burst into laughter.

  Just like the sudden spring wind that blew in the night, it blew away all the pear flowers away.

  * Dribble Charging originally refers to a foul in basketball, but has been used as a term describing a girl using her breasts to deliver a deathblow.

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  Chapter17 Riko's Choice

  In the afternoon, Riko brought Shi Xiaobai around Steel City. Steel City was divided into five zones. The jurisdiction zones of the four Divisions were separately the north, south, east and west. In the middle was a joint area with buildings for meetings as well as shared facilities.

  [Gaia]'s reputation was now in decline, but it had once been brilliant in China. [Gaia] Base had been established back in its glory days, hence, the facilities in Steel City were considerably adequate. It could be said it had everything. It had restaurants, supermarkets, karaoke bars, bars and other entertainment outlets. It even had a game arcade.

  However, this world's "virtual reality" was surprisingly well-developed. Every game was basically a "virtual game" meant for training the abilities of Heroes. Shi Xiaobai's eyes glowed immediately as he yearned to try them out. Riko did not have that much time to waste with him at a game arcade, so she pulled him away. Shi Xiaobai lamented in pity as he decided that he had to find an opportunity to play every game in the game arcade in the future.

  It was unknown where Riko obtained a car from. The duo drove around and walked around, traversing most of Steel City in its entirety. Of course, the main introduction was [Annihilation]'s jurisdiction zone.

  [Annihilation]'s jurisdiction zone was located to the south of Steel City. The facilities it had were not any different from the other three jurisdiction zones'. The main thing Riko wanted to do was to let Shi Xiaobai understand the structure of the jurisdiction zone, so that he would not get lost while outside. As for whether Shi Xiaobai was listening attentively or not, that was unknown.

  The results of the Rookie Evaluation Test were out in the afternoon. A few text messages were sent to Riko's cellphone. Shi Xiaobai had naturally received first place for [Annihilation] in this batch of rookie evaluations. He also became this year's second S– Class rookie. If Shi Xiaobai had received one more point in the ability test, he could have had a chance to achieve S, or even S+ Class. After all, his dual S Class natural endowment was something that only appeared once in several years in the entire world, while he was the first in [Gaia] ever since its establishment.

  There was another text message which was quite thought-provoking. According to the organization’s investigation, Shi Xiaobai's identity came up completely blank! This meant that even [Gaia]'s intelligence agencies were unable to obtain any information about Shi Xiaobai. There were only two possibilities for this to occur. Either the confidentiality of Shi Xiaobai's identity was above [Gaia]'s clearance level or Shi Xiaobai had appeared out of thin air. The former was unbelievable, while the latter was preposterous.

  But in any case, [Gaia] would not easily let a rare uber-class rookie disappear from their grasp. Even if they had to resort to brainwashing techniques, they would do so just to make Shi Xiaobai have a sense of belonging to [Gaia].

  This matter resulted in two conflicting text messages. One of them was sent by the upper echelons of [Gaia]. It vaguely hinted to Riko that while protecting herself, she should try her best to make Shi Xiaobai have a sense of belonging to the organization. It implied a request for Riko to play with Shi Xiaobai's feelings, making Shi Xiaobai fall for her. On this matter, it made Riko unsure whether to laugh or cry, but at the same time, she was infuriated.

  The other text message had healed her hurt heart. It was a message sent from her father. Her father's text message cussed at Shi Xiaobai, sternly requesting Riko to distance herself from Shi Xiaobai. He also expressed that he would settle any problems that came from the organization's upper echelons. He wanted Riko to focus on her own matters and to not make any compromises.

  Riko immediately replied her father's text message, explaining the misunderstanding. She also depicted her understanding of Shi Xiaobai. After Riko's father received the text message, he immediately responded with—"There's really such an idiotic child?"

  Riko immediately laughed in stitches as she began tapping noisily at her cellphone, producing a large passage mentioning how silly Shi Xiaobai was. Immediately, her mood turned better.

  After that, Riko sent another text message to the organization's upper echelons. She explained that Shi Xiaobai was a pure and kind child, and that she treated Shi Xiaobai as her younger brother.

  The reaction from the upper echelons was swift. They immediately responded with a text message that gave Riko a headache. In summary, the organization decided that Riko was to play the role of Shi Xiaobai's rookie counselor. Also, as there were not enough room in the rookie dormitories, Shi Xiaobai was to temporarily stay with Riko, and they had even used "a younger brother living in his elder sister's house is completely reasonable" as the corresponding reason.

  In accordance with established practices, [Gaia] would specially match a corresponding counselor to rookies at A Class or above. The counselor would guide and help the rookie in the beginning stages. The counselor was typically assigned to a young staff member of the organization as a side job. However, Riko's status was extremely special. Not only was she the daughter of the Minamiya family, she was even this generation's Oceanic Pontus. With her status, there was no need for her to shoulder the responsibility as rookie counselor. This was clearly arranged deliberately by the upper echelons.

  As for there not being enough room in the rookie dormitories, that was even more preposterous. As a famous Hero organization in the country, and even internationally, how could [Gaia] lack a dormitory room? This excuse was too perfunctory! It was clearly forcing Shi Xiaobai to live with her!

  Riko was so furious that she nearly threw her cellphone. Actually, with her status, the upper echelons could not do a thing if she directly rejected their request. If not, the upper echelons would not have used a negotiatory tone, or even have the need to use such a lame excuse.

  However, Riko did not immediately reject them. After she sank her thoughts to ponder over it, she finally decided to agree to the upper echelon's request. Firstly, Shi Xiaobai was recruited by her, so she had a certain amount of responsibility. Secondly, she did not hate spending time with Shi Xiaobai. Besides, Shi Xiaobai was still a child. The place she stayed at did have many spare rooms. Thirdly, she was afraid that after her rejection, the organization would find another beauty to seduce Shi Xiaobai. When the time came, she would feel sorry for the beauty that had been coerced by the organization.

  For the organization's upper echelons to go so far for Shi Xiaobai showed how stunning his natural endowment was. Riko did not wish for Shi Xiaobai to become a war victim amongst the rotten management of [Gaia]. She felt that it was her duty to protect this thirteen-year-old boy, just like an elder sister.

  ...

  Along the way, Riko's mind was weighed down by various thoughts, while Shi Xiaobai had problems on his mind too. Back when he first met Riko, the scene of Riko
instantly slicing the calamity fiend, Sahadun, to pieces was imprinted in his mind. Back then, he told himself—This Girl is the Heroine he had always been looking for. He definitely needed her to join Xiaobai's Hero Squad.

  Now, he had finally gotten his wish, and because of that, another wish rose up to the surface of his heart.

  However, due to his reservations as King, Shi Xiaobai forced himself not to say it. Neither after dinner, nor after he followed Riko back to her home—a warm house constructed in steel encasings—and even when she turned on the television and watched the flashy fighting program about the Heroes league on a forty inch crystal display. Only when Riko was about to go for a shower did he lose his wits, unable to hold it in any longer. He tugged at her hand and let out the words buried deep inside his heart all along.

  "I want to become stronger. Please help me."

  Shi Xiaobai was not aware of how his future would be hallowed, or of how many organizations and the interests of a select few would pursue him. He only knew that he was still an ordinary person at this moment in time. He was still the same weakling who was powerless in front of that Sahadun. And because of that, he wanted to become stronger. And the girl in front of him was a member of Xiaobai's Hero Squad, his ally. He wished that she could help him.

  At this moment, Shi Xiaobai no longer called himself "This King". His eyes were as bright as the stars and as deep as the starry sky.

  At this moment, while looking into this youth's eyes, Riko was very glad that she had chosen to agree to the organization's request.

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  Chapter18 Return Me My Shi Xiaobai

  Although Shi Xiaobai was a fool in Riko’s eyes, she had no doubt that he was a genius when it came to cultivating Psionic Ability. Be it his Mind Expanse or Psy-genes that were at S Class, or the Perception of God of the Six Senses of God, each one of them was a talent dreamed of by anyone.

  Although Shi Xiaobai's final evaluation was S– Class, [Gaia]'s upper echelons and Riko knew very clearly that Shi Xiaobai's true evaluation should have been S+ Class. This was because Shi Xiaobai had only shot once in his ability test. Since he possessed the Perception of God, then just being a little bit serious was enough for him to easily obtain a higher ranking.

  This was also the reason why the treatment Shi Xiaobai received far exceeded the other S– Class rookie from this year. Even the upper echelons were foolish enough to request Riko to sacrifice herself to ensure that Shi Xiaobai would have a sense of belonging to [Gaia]. What status did Riko enjoy? Ignoring the Minamiya family's status in China, just the fact that Riko was One-Pun's only student, or that she was this generation's Oceanic Pontus, was enough. If they forced Riko to lose all decorum with them, it was not something that could easily be resolved. Yet, the upper echelons were willing to take such great risks, making the degree of attention placed on Shi Xiaobai evident.

  As such, even if Riko was unwilling to admit it, she had no choice but to exclaim.

  This fool, Shi Xiaobai, is truly the best genius she had ever encountered.

  However, despite Shi Xiaobai being a genius, what made it shocking was that he was a weakling. Shi Xiaobai possessed the most amazing Psionic Ability talent, but he was not a Psionite. In fact, he could be said to have had not even begun Psionite cultivation. Without any exaggeration, be it Kevin or Yang Yang, they could have easily taken Shi Xiaobai down. Shi Xiaobai was not even a match for the 4–5 year-old loli, Zhong Yue'er.

  This contrast was what made Riko ponder the most. Why hadn’t Shi Xiaobai begun Psionic Ability cultivation at the age of thirteen? Some children from a family of Heroes would even begin Psionic Ability cultivation at the age of two or three, for instance Zhong Yue'er. Even those who began later—those who came from ordinary households—would begin at six or seven. This was because the nine years of compulsory education in this world mainly focused on teaching Psionic Ability cultivation.

  Riko even began to treat Shi Xiaobai's joke seriously.

  Is Shi Xiaobai really from another world?

  Riko realized that the more she spent time with Shi Xiaobai, the more she couldn't comprehend him. As a result, after all the various incidents that had happened today, there was a veil of mystery surrounding Shi Xiaobai in her heart. It was as if the Shi Xiaobai in front of her was a fictional character, a reality that was impossible to make contact with.

  But at this very moment, Shi Xiaobai had used a single sentence to pierce through that mysteriousness, shattering the imaginary barrier to pieces. This made Riko feel a true sense of warmth.

  "I want to become stronger. Please help me."

  Upon hearing those words that sounded like a plea, Riko felt as if a particular soft corner in her heart had been gently prodded with a finger. What sort of feeling was that...? Slightly bitter, slightly tingly, slightly warm, but it was very real.

  In her mind, she thought, "Ah, so this is Shi Xiaobai."

  He obviously had a talent others dreamed of, yet he desired true power. He called himself "This King" in an arrogant manner, yet he knew better than anyone how weak he was. He knew he had the right to be proud, yet he timidly tugged at her hand and made such a tender request. Perhaps, the reason why he was crying his heart out during the sunset was not because he was afraid, but because he was feeling remorse? He desired—more than anyone—to become one of the strong. He wanted to protect that Little Fatso! No wonder Teacher One-Pun said that he was a brave child.

  Such a Shi Xiaobai was very real, and very cute.

  At this moment, Riko was touched.

  "Tsk. Girl, you are already This King's person. This King orders you to help This King become stronger!" Suddenly, Shi Xiaobai's high-spirited voice resounded.

  Riko, who was still deep in a million thoughts, was momentarily stunned. An ominous feeling arose in her heart.

  "Eighty-one blood-limiting seals were imposed on This King by the evil Gods, and the only way of removing these seals is to constantly become stronger. Once the seals on This King are removed, there would be no rival in this entire world!"

  By then, Riko had already guessed the ending. She nearly wanted to cover her ears, so that she need not listen to the rest of his words.

  However, in the next second, Shi Xiaobai's familiar laughter resounded once again. "Wahahaha, laugh and be excited, Girl. Once This King is invincible, this world will be eventually conquered!"

  Riko was beyond tears. This fool could not even maintain that sincere act for more than three seconds. It was such a waste of her emotions.

  Could it be that she was the one who moved herself a moment ago?

  The more Riko thought about it, the more infuriated she became. As she watched on as Shi Xiaobai began bragging how invincible he would be after removing the seals, the more she felt the distance widen between the Shi Xiaobai she imagined and the Shi Xiaobai in front of her.

  "Bastard, return me my Shi Xiaobai!"

  At this moment, Riko could not help but reach out to wrangle Shi Xiaobai by the neck.

  ...

  As Riko engaged in a moment of unilateral "abuse" of Shi Xiaobai, while constantly shouting "return me my Shi Xiaobai", Shi Xiaobai was repeatedly shouting in an aggrieved manner, "But This King is Shi Xiaobai!"

  After the ruckus, Riko was covered in sweat and could not wait to take her shower. As she was used to wrapping a towel around herself at home, she had accidentally given Shi Xiaobai a chance to catch a glance of unspeakable things. As a result, she immediately screamed and beat Shi Xiaobai up once again.

  Shi Xiaobai, who experienced the tribulations, lay on the couch with a face full of grievance.

  On the other hand, Riko contentedly sat on another sofa. She began to ask Shi Xiaobai of whatever knowledge he had grasped. In fact, as Shi Xiaobai's rookie counselor, understanding and helping Shi Xiaobai was part of her job.

  However, after a series of inquiries, Riko was shocked. Shi Xiaobai did not know a single
thing. He didn't even know the most basic concept of what a Psionite was.

  "So you really have no clue what Mind Expanse is, or what Psy-genes are, as well as the Six Senses of God?” Riko asked incredulously.

  "Che, This King just feels disdain about finding it out!" Shi Xiaobai said with a disdainful face.

  For a fool that did not know anything and has everything, made Riko have a deep sense of malevolence towards this world.

  She could only sigh and say, "In seven days, the organization's intake of rookies will be halted. [Annihilation] will also begin a new batch of rookie training. You can slowly learn the basics in the future, but there is something that cannot be delayed."

  "What is it?" Shi Xiaobai asked.

  "Psionic Ability cultivation!"

  Riko said in a serious manner, "For this batch of [Annihilation] rookies, the weakest is at the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm, while the best has reached the fourth level of the Psionic Mortal Realm. As for you, who has been given the best evaluation by [Annihilation], you aren't even at the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm. You will probably make a fool out of yourself."

  Riko suddenly thought of something and took out her cellphone to make a call. Moments later, the other party picked up the phone as she whispered, "Teacher One-Pun..."

  After spending a few minutes conversing with One-Pun, Riko revealed a smile and looked at Shi Xiaobai. She said with a laugh, "Go ahead and snigger, Teacher One-Pun has agreed to impart his personal Psionic Ability cultivation technique to you. This is something dreamed of by numerous people. Although trying to reach the first level of the Psionic Mortal Realm in seven days is an extremely difficult task, but with your talent, it might be possible with some effort."

  Riko was already beginning to plan how she would spend the next seven days "drilling” Shi Xiaobai into proper shape.

  She did not notice that Shi Xiaobai, who was slumped on the sofa, had eyes burning with intense fighting spirit. It was a morale that seemed like it would burn through everything at all expense.